Chapter 510: The Pursuit
Chapter 510: The Pursuit
Lu Chengyun's spiritual stone warehouse was destroyed, cutting off the supply of spiritual energy and slowing down the operation of the Ten Thousand Corpse Formation. The rate at which corpses were refined was also gradually decreasing.
Yang Jishan was overjoyed, and the other cultivators heaved a sigh of relief.
In the midst of battle, Lu Chengyun was depleting his zombies.
But the loss of their side was the lives of living, breathing people.
Now that the Ten Thousand Corpse Formation had been reduced and was gradually coming to a halt, it was a good thing for their side to be free from this endless drain.
The Daobing soldiers and the cultivators from various factions couldn't help but feel grateful to Mo Hua.
What followed was a head-on confrontation.
The Daobing commander, along with the Daobing squads and the cultivators, engaged in a fierce battle with the iron zombies and the walking dead.
Yang Jishan gave orders and coordinated the battle, with Mo Hua by his side observing the fight.
The battle within the Corpse Mine was intense.
The swords and daggers of the cultivators clashed with the claws and fangs of the zombies, spiritual power intertwined with corpse energy, corpse poison filled the air, and spells flew left and right. One by one, cultivators fell, and zombies were torn to pieces.
It was both gruesome and awe-inspiring.
Mo Hua watched on, shocked by the brutality of the scene before him.
Although he had witnessed sporadic battles between cultivators and zombies before, and had even faced off against zombies during his escape, this was the first time he was witnessing the full scale of the carnage from atop a mountain, overlooking the entire battlefield.
Soon, however, Mo Hua's shock turned to pity.
These Daobing soldiers were also people.
Even though their cultivation was low and they could only play a minor role in this war, they had parents, and perhaps even wives and children.
Their deaths here would leave loved ones heartbroken.
And these zombies, they had once been people too, and most likely, they had been suffering miners.
Oppressed by the Lu family in life, they were now being used as cannon fodder in death, aiding the oppressor.
Mo Hua sighed.
This stalemate couldn't continue.
If the battle dragged on, he didn't know how many more cultivators would be injured or even perish...
Nan Yue City would likely face a calamity as well.
Mo Hua observed the situation, furrowing his brows in thought. Using his divine sense to calculate, he discerned the primary and secondary sequences of the spiritual pivots controlling the zombie horde. Then he said to Yang Jishan, "Uncle Yang, we must kill that large iron zombie, the one-armed iron zombie, and the fat iron zombie first."
Yang Jishan was taken aback, "Why?"
He was a little confused. There were dozens of iron zombies on the battlefield, and he couldn't understand why Mo Hua specifically wanted to target these three. They didn't seem to be the strongest ones either.
Mo Hua explained, "The walking dead on the battlefield can be divided into two categories."
"The first category is controlled by zombie cultivators using control bells."
"The second category is controlled by iron zombies through formations."
"The number of zombies controlled by zombie cultivators is small, and they fight individually, so they aren't a big threat. But it's different with the ones controlled by formations..."
"These three iron zombies have formations on their bodies that control the most walking dead. If we kill them, nearly half of the walking dead will become a mob, driven only by instinct, without any coordination. They won't function as an army and will be easy to deal with."
Yang Jishan was stunned, "How do you know this?"
Yun Shaoye, standing beside them, was also surprised.
They only knew that the zombies were controlled by formations, but they didn't know the specifics of how it worked.
Mo Hua vaguely replied, "I've seen the formations Lu Chengyun drew, so I can figure it out."
Yang Jishan nodded as if he only half-understood.
But Yun Shaoye was dumbfounded.
Calculations?
"Could it be...?"
He had a vague guess, but he found it hard to believe.
Yang Jishan immediately called out to one of his men and gave an order, "Pass down the command to gather three squads of Daobing soldiers. Ignore the other zombies and focus solely on killing those three iron zombies!"
"Yes!"
The soldier acknowledged the order and relayed it to the squads.
Soon, three squads of Daobing soldiers, each led by a Foundation Establishment commander, rushed out and headed straight for the three iron zombies on the battlefield.
With calculation, the heart can overcome the unpredictable.
In less than half an hour, the three iron zombies were defeated, their hearts shattered.
With the death of the three iron zombies, more than half of the zombie soldiers on the field suddenly went berserk, like flies without a head, rushing left and right, seeking someone to devour.
This was a sign that they had lost control and were now acting solely on instinct, driven by the zombie energy within them.
While uncontrolled zombies were usually a nuisance to ordinary cultivators, in a battle like this, they became disorganized and posed less of a threat, despite their ferocity and bloodlust. They were no match for the coordinated Daobing soldiers.
Yang Jishan's spirit lifted.
"It really works!"
He immediately waved his command flag and ordered the Daobing soldiers to form a formation, slowly grinding down and annihilating the uncontrolled zombie horde.
Once the walking dead were dealt with, the remaining iron zombies posed little threat to the well-organized Daobing squads.
A general without his soldiers is no longer a general.
And an iron zombie without its zombie soldiers is just an ordinary iron zombie.
The Daobing soldiers were like a scythe, reaping through the battlefield and harvesting the lives of the walking dead.
The situation soon became clear.
The Daobing forces gained the upper hand, while the zombie army suffered heavy losses.
Soon, Lu Chengyun ordered the zombie horde to retreat.
The suppression of the Corpse Mine had been a long and arduous process.
This was just one battle among many that had taken place over several days, and it was just one victory among the numerous outcomes.
But this particular victory was the clearest and most decisive one yet.
Yang Jishan breathed a long sigh of relief.
From then on, he always brought Mo Hua with him to the battles.
Mo Hua would release his divine sense, scan the battlefield, and then, after a moment of calculation, he would tell Yang Jishan which walking dead were controlled by which iron zombies. He would explain that if a certain iron zombie was killed, the walking dead in a certain area would scatter.
But that wasn't all.
He also revealed the tactics used by troublesome zombie cultivators, how to counter potent zombie poisons, how to break evil formations, and more.
Mo Hua's knowledge seemed endless, and he shared it all.
When it came to formations, he could see through them at a glance; his understanding of the Corpse Mine came from secretly listening in while he was in hiding; his knowledge of corpse refinement came partly from corpse refinement manuals, and partly from his experiences battling the Zhang family's ancestors and elders...
The more Yang Jishan listened, the more astonished he became.
Of course, Yang Jishan quickly dismissed these thoughts, knowing they were impossible.
"He must have found out about all this while he was in the Corpse Mine..."
Yang Jishan marveled inwardly.
Now he understood why his fifth brother, Yang Jiyong, held this young man in such high regard.
Proficient in formations, brave and resourceful, with a pure heart devoted to the Dao.
And able to secretly gather such detailed intelligence without anyone knowing...
Wasn't this exactly the talent the Daobing Division needed?
Yang Jishan's eyes shone as he looked at Mo Hua, wishing he could bring Mo Hua into the Yang family...
...
On the other hand, Lu Chengyun's face was clouded with gloom.
He never expected that in just a few days, the situation would take such a turn for the worse.
It seemed like all his secrets had been uncovered.
The layout of the stone temple, the deployment of the zombie soldiers, the operation of the formations...
The enemy was seizing every weakness and gradually eating away at his forces.
Lu Chengyun felt the pressure, a suffocating sense of being entangled.
It was as if the net he had woven early on was slowly tightening around him, trapping him within, leaving him at the mercy of his captors.
"The Corpse Mine won't last much longer..."
Continuing to hold out would be pointless.
When faced with such a situation, one must act decisively to avoid greater chaos.
Lu Chengyun's heart wavered, and he thought of escaping:
"I must find a way to slip away and seek another path to survival."
"As long as I escape, there will still be opportunities."
"I can hide my identity, change my name, and find another family or sect to rely on..."
"Although I'm not young anymore, my face doesn't show my age, and I still have a gentle and elegant demeanor, a refined temperament..."
"With my abilities, if I could enter another family through marriage once, I can do it again."
"At worst, I'll find an older woman to marry..."
"There are so many stupid women in this world who only care about looks; I can definitely deceive another one."
"I can refine more zombies if I lose some."
"If the Ten Thousand Corpse Formation is destroyed, I can rebuild it."
"As long as the Zombie King is still in my control, obeying only my commands, I can always start anew and rise again!"
Lu Chengyun's expression turned slightly somber, a cold light flashing in his eyes.
After that, the zombie horde's offensives became more intense.
They counterattacked desperately, regardless of the cost, as if they intended to take everyone down with them.
Yang Jishan frowned and asked, "Lu Chengyun, are you trying to fight to the death?"
But Mo Hua shook his head, "No, he's trying to escape."
He understood Lu Chengyun very well.
Such a selfish and self-serving person would definitely value his own life above all else. How could he possibly share the fate of the Corpse Mine?
He didn't care about the Little Lingyin Sect from before or the Lu family now.
Even if the Lu family were destroyed and the Corpse Mine ruined, Lu Chengyun would still find a way to slip away and find another power to leech onto.
As expected, a few days later, in the midst of a chaotic battle, Mo Hua suddenly sensed a familiar aura among the zombie cultivators.
This aura was well hidden, but it couldn't escape Mo Hua's perception, even with his thirteen-pattern peak divine sense.
There were also some mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators present whose divine senses were stronger than Mo Hua's, but since they weren't familiar with Lu Chengyun, they couldn't detect him.
Mo Hua followed this aura with his divine sense and saw a figure whose face was covered, whose build was familiar, but who was acting in a sneaky manner—a zombie cultivator.
Mo Hua immediately recognized this person as Lu Chengyun.
Mo Hua pointed with his small hand and quickly shouted, "Uncle Yang, that person is Lu Chengyun! He's trying to escape!"
Yang Jishan was startled, and his expression changed. He waved his command flag and pointed at Lu Chengyun, shouting, "Capture him!"
Several squads of Daobing soldiers formed a long dragon and rushed towards Lu Chengyun.
Lu Chengyun was shocked and muttered a curse.
But his heart was also secretly startled. He had concealed his cultivation, appearing to be only at the ninth level of Refining Qi, so how was he recognized? Lu Chengyun was puzzled, but since he had been found out, he knew he couldn't escape, so he could only retreat back into the stone temple.
The battle subsided, and Lu Chengyun didn't get away.
"Why is he running now?"
Mo Hua found it a bit strange and swept the stone temple with his divine sense, discovering that the formation auras in the stone temple had changed.
Mo Hua calculated in his mind and understood what was going on.
Within the stone temple, Lu Chengyun had set up numerous Rending Earth Formations.
Once he escaped, he would activate these formations, blowing up the stone temple, collapsing the Corpse Mine, and burying all the zombie cultivators and Daoting Court cultivators together.
Even if the Foundation Establishment cultivators managed to escape, a large number of Refining Qi cultivators would perish in the Corpse Mine.
And all the cultivators who died in the Corpse Mine, including the Daobing soldiers, zombie cultivators, and family sect cultivators, would become the materials for his zombie refinement.
Yang Jishan's eyes turned cold.
"This Lu Chengyun is truly vicious!"
Mo Hua also felt a sense of danger.
After that, everyone was cautious because of the Rending Earth Formations and didn't dare to press too hard.
Mo Hua also spent some time deducing the locations of the Rending Earth Formations and marking them one by one before handing the information to Yang Jishan.
Whenever the Daobing soldiers had the upper hand and pushed back the zombie soldiers, they would send people to destroy some of the Rending Earth Formations.
The number of Rending Earth Formations gradually decreased.
Finally, Lu Chengyun couldn't hold back anymore. One night, he took advantage of the Daobing soldiers' retreat and activated all the remaining Rending Earth Formations, causing the Corpse Mine to shake.
There weren't many Rending Earth Formations, and their power wasn't great, but they caused chaos.
Lu Chengyun, guarded by the Zombie King and the iron zombies, killed his way out of the Corpse Mine.
Hordes of mindless zombies followed him fearlessly, forming a tide of corpses that covered his retreat.
Yang Jishan led the Daobing soldiers and cultivators from various factions in pursuit.
The battle shifted from beneath the Corpse Mine to the Corpse Mountain above.
The entire mountain was filled with cultivators and zombies fighting to the death.
Many zombies also lost control and became wandering zombies, roaming aimlessly throughout the mountains...
The battle lasted an entire day. Finally, Lu Chengyun fled towards a desolate and eerie mountain peak a hundred miles away from Nanyue City.
Yang Jishan unfolded a map, his expression turning solemn as he noticed the name of the mountain:
Cemetery Mountain.
The others also sensed the foreboding nature of this place.
This was definitely not a friendly location.
Yang Jishan's gaze turned sharp.
Whether they could capture Lu Chengyun, slay the Zombie King, and exterminate the horde of zombies depended on the upcoming battle.
He instructed, "Proceed with caution as we enter the mountain."
The Daobing squads advanced toward Cemetery Mountain.
However, as soon as they crossed the mountain's boundary, the ground began to tremble, and rocks shook loose. Countless zombies crawled out from the soil.
These zombies were older, their corpse poison more potent.
Among them were also several Iron Zombies.
Yang Jishan's face turned as cold as ice.
More?
Just how many years had this Lu Chengyun been refining corpses, and how many had he created?
Was this Cemetery Mountain another one of his corpse refining sites, similar to the Corpse Mine?
Yang Jishan's brow furrowed deeply.
The Daobing soldiers, exhausted from the long pursuit, were just about to catch up to Lu Chengyun when a new wave of zombies emerged.
It seemed like there was no end to them...
This Lu Chengyun was indeed a deep-thinking and scheming individual.
Yang Jishan had no choice but to order everyone to set up camp outside the mountain, keeping a close eye on any movements within to prevent Lu Chengyun's escape.
The group discussed their next course of action.
"The problem now is, how many zombies are there in this Cemetery Mountain?"
A middle-aged cultivator sighed.
"If there are too many, we will undoubtedly be at a disadvantage."
"Without knowing their numbers, we will surely fall into an ambush..."
"Our manpower is insufficient..."
Yang Jishan's brow remained furrowed, his expression stern.
In the battles thus far, they had already suffered significant casualties.
More than half of the remaining cultivators were wounded, and some had to rely on blood-cleansing pills to suppress the corpse poison, rendering them unable to fight.
Their current strength was less than a third of what it had been.
As for how many zombies Lu Chengyun still had at his disposal, that remained an unknown.
If Lu Chengyun was feigning defeat to lure them deeper into a trap, they would undoubtedly suffer heavy losses.
However, the mountain was desolate and eerie, filled with toxic miasma.
How could they possibly know how many zombies lurked within?
Mo Hua thought for a moment and suggested, "Capture one walking dead and one iron zombie."
Yang Jishan was taken aback.
Mo Hua continued, "I can examine the array patterns on them and roughly estimate how many zombies Lu Chengyun still has."
Yang Jishan was perplexed.
The other formation masters also exchanged confused glances.
Yun Shaoye, however, narrowed his eyes, deep in thought.
"You can estimate that from the array patterns?" Yang Jishan asked uncertainly.
"Yes," Mo Hua nodded.
Yang Jishan didn't quite understand, but he figured they didn't have many other options. After pondering for a moment, he nodded and said, "Alright."
He personally took action, leading several Daobing commanders to capture three walking dead and one iron zombie, binding them with iron chains.
The zombies struggled and roared, their eyes glowing with a malevolent light.
The corpse poison, like blood, oozed from their bodies, coating the iron chains with a putrid, corrosive substance.
These zombies were noticeably more aggressive, their poison more potent.
Bai Zisheng stood protectively in front of Mo Hua to prevent the zombies from harming him.
Behind Mo Hua, Bai Zixi's slender fingers glowed with sword qi as she maintained a vigilant stance.
Mo Hua instructed, "Uncle Yang, cut open their chests."
Yang Jishan nodded.
Having done this once before, he was familiar with the process.
Soon, the outer layer of the zombies' heart pulses was sliced open, revealing the intricate array patterns connecting to their blood and flesh.
Mo Hua took out paper and brush, carefully copying the array patterns before analyzing them and identifying the unique sequence array patterns.
The Ling Shu Formation used sequence array patterns to "encode" the zombies.
By reverse-calculating the sequence array patterns, one could deduce the "encoding" and thus determine the total number of sequences in the entire Ling Shu Formation system, which corresponded to the total number of zombies.
Mo Hua hadn't known how to do this before.
This type of calculation was complex, requiring a strong divine sense and a profound understanding of formations.
But ever since he refined the Contemplation Diagram, his divine sense had reached the thirteen-pattern peak, and after drawing the Ling Shu Formation countless times, he had gained a profound understanding of it, allowing him to attempt this calculation.
Mo Hua studied the sequence array patterns, his brow furrowed in concentration.
Yang Jishan and the others watched Mo Hua's focused expression, their hearts filled with apprehension, not daring to make a sound.
After an unknown amount of time, Mo Hua finally snapped back to reality, letting out a long breath as his face paled slightly.
"Well?" Yang Jishan asked anxiously.
Mo Hua hesitated, "I can only make a rough estimate, it's not very precise..."
"It's fine, it's fine," Yang Jishan assured him.
Mo Hua continued, "...Based on the sequence array patterns, there are approximately over forty iron zombies and five thousand walking dead in this Cemetery Mountain, all under the control of the Zombie King."
Yang Jishan nodded, his brow furrowed even deeper.
The situation was indeed dire.
While the walking dead were manageable, the forty-plus iron zombies were beyond what he had expected and would be challenging to deal with.
However, Yang Jishan had another question: "How... did you calculate that?"
Mo Hua scratched his head, pointing at one of the array patterns, "These patterns are interconnected and have internal sequences. With a bit of divine sense, you can calculate and figure it out..."
Yang Jishan was baffled.
He turned to the other formation masters, only to see similar confused expressions on their faces.
Yun Shaoye, however, stood there, lost in thought, muttering, "Derivative calculation..."
This was... something that only the oldest and most experienced formation masters in the Yun family could do—divine sense derivative calculation? And this young man had mastered it at such a young age?
Was this something a child his age could learn? Yun Shaoye gazed at the youthful Mo Hua, his thoughts in turmoil.
The end of this arc is approaching~
(End of Chapter)
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